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<br />I-'" <br />--J <br />r-':'J <br />o <br /> <br />4) Urban Runoff - The principal pollutants associated with urban runoff are <br />oxygen demanding substances, metals and fecal coliform bacteria. The <br />principal areas experiencing urban runoff problems include the major <br />metropolitan areas of the State, including Denver, Colorado Springs, and <br />Some mountain communities subject to high growth pressures and <br />corresponding land disturbance. Urban runoff in the mountain areas 'has <br />contributed to water quality problems in Dillon Reservoir. Other <br />reservoirs which may experience problems in the future due to <br />urbanization in their watersheds, are Cherry Creek and Chatfield in the <br />Denver Area. The Denver Regional Council of Government's National Urban <br />aunoff Program (NURP) study will quantify and characterize urban runoff <br />in the Denver area. <br /> <br />C) Drinking ~ater Problems <br /> <br />The quality of drinking water supplies in Colorado, while generally good, <br />faces an endemic problem with the presence of Giardia lamblia in surface <br />waters throughout the State. Giardia lamblia is a protozoan resistant to <br />chemical disinfection and causes a serious gastro-intestinal disease in <br />humans. Several outbreaks of Giardia-related diseases occur annually, <br />principally at resort and recreation areas where visitors have hot developed <br />an i$munity to Giardia lamblia. The removal of Giardia lamblia from <br />drinking water requires the installation and proper operation of <br />conventional treatment facilities. Currently, sixteen Colorado cOlllIIlunities <br />use surface drinking water supplies without the filtration needed to remove <br />it. <br /> <br />Nitrate concentrations that exceed drinking water standards are COlllIIlon among <br />public water sources that withdraw their water from the alluvial aquifer of <br />the South Platte aiver, primarily in ~eld County. A secondary source of <br />drinking water problems is the widespread presence of naturally occurring <br />radioactive elements in potable water supply sources and the presence of <br />selenium in many systems in the Arkansas Valley. As many as ninety water <br />supply systems may have problems with radioactive elements, while some <br />twenty-five to thirty exceed drinking water standards for nitrates and <br />selenium. The removal of radioactive elements, nitrates and selenium from <br />drinking water supplies requires highly sophisticated equipment and a high <br />level of operational skill. <br /> <br />D) Groundwater Problems <br /> <br />Nearly eighty percent of Colorado's public water systems utilize groundwater <br />for a portion of their raw drinking water supply. It is, therefore, <br />imperative that problems be identified and resolved quickly. <br /> <br />-5- <br /> <br />..". _1<:~ <br />,t., ',.;n;.o' -,;; == <br />